How To Choose The Cheaper Printer For Your Business

Author: Charlie Category: Business

There is a right way to choose a business printer from a cost perspective. Don’t get fooled. Many companies unknowingly choose very expensive printers because they get lured in with cheap upfront printer prices and a high cost per page for toner. Most of the time after a calculable number of months, the more expensive printer upfront becomes the cheaper printer (not even considering quality, speed, or other metrics).

Here is the formula to compare 2 printers and determine how many months you will use a printer before the cheaper option changes from the cheaper upfront to the cheaper per page.

1: Determine MONTHLY PRINT VOLUME, number of prints on average per month (it’s helpful to think about how much paper you buy and how frequently you buy it).

2: Get the INITIAL PRINTER PRICES for the 2 printers being compared.

3: Look up the type of ink for each printer and CALCULATE the COST PER PAGE (CPP) of each:
HERE IS THE FORMULA FOR COST PER PAGE: (Estimated cost per cartridge) / (Estimated number of pages per cartridge) = CPP. (If comparing color, you need the combined cost of all three color cartridges, not just one like for black and white printing.)

4: PLUG IN THE NUMBERS: MONTHS UNTIL MORE EXPENSIVE PRINTER BECOMES THE CHEAPER PRINTER = (Printer1 Initial Cost – Printer2 Initial Cost) / (MONTLY PRINT VOLUME X (Printer2 CPP – Printer1 CPP))

Note that this doesn’t consider starter cartridges within the equation. It also doesn’t consider paper cost, maintenance cost, quality of drivers, brand reputation, ease of setup/use/support, warranty or other things that should be thought about when buying a printer. This is just for the raw long term ink and equipment principle cost. Usually with high printing volume, the best route is to buy the printing by the page from a copier specialist that buys cheaper in bulk and allow them to supply all toner, equipment, service and support.

Hopefully this will help you make a better choice when buying your next printer. As always if you need help choosing a printer, installing or maintaining a printer call Sudora Computer Services at 314-993-4555. We will run the numbers and present the best solution for you!